The Fontenay – curved glass and two stars on the Alster

On the south-western curve of Hamburg's Outer Alster, beneath limes and maples that pre-date the building by decades, The Fontenay traces a long white arc of glass toward the water in the quiet Rotherbaum district. Built for logistics entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne and opened on 19 March 2018, it was designed by architect Jan Störmer, whose organic, curving concept was inspired by the movement of water and interconnecting circles. Inside, 130 rooms and suites look through floor-to-ceiling glass toward the lake or the surrounding park, and the hotel belongs to The Leading Hotels of the World. The MICHELIN Guide gives The Fontenay Three Keys, its highest distinction for hotels, while the rooftop restaurant Lakeside, under chef Julian Stowasser, holds Two Stars – a rare pairing of architecture and kitchen on one Hamburg address.

01The house

The hotel takes its name, and its address, from John Fontenay, a shipbroker who by his own account came to Hamburg around 1797 and was granted the city's citizenship there. During the Napoleonic blockade of the Elbe he and a partner kept the city supplied with goods, before the blockade itself drove him away for several years; he returned in 1814 to resume work as a broker once the French had withdrawn.

The cornerstone for the present building was laid on 14 August 2014, and water damage during construction in the summer of 2017 pushed the planned opening back more than once before the hotel finally welcomed guests the following spring. Störmer's curving glass façade carries through into the lobby, called the Atrium Lounge, which rises 27 metres through the centre of the building – a space built more like a cathedral than a hotel hall.

02Rooms and suites

The 130 rooms and suites run across eleven categories, from the compact Fontenay Classic to two-bedroom suites of well over 100 m²; balconies on most categories blur the line between room and park in keeping with the building's wraparound glass. Every room, whatever its size, comes with air conditioning, a coffee machine, minibar, Wi-Fi and spa access included, along with flat-screen televisions and a safe.

Insider tip

Walking distance to the city centre's shops and museums; the Alster running path starts at the door.

Two suites take their cue from Hamburg's maritime life: the Europa 2 Suite borrows the palette of the cruise liner of the same name for a touch of ship-board glamour ashore, while the Senator Suite looks straight over the Alster from 105 m² of living space with its own balcony.

03Where to eat

Dinner means a lift to the seventh floor, where Lakeside occupies a bright, glass-walled room on the top floor of the hotel. Chef Julian Stowasser's cooking is built on classical French training filtered into a cosmopolitan, pared-back style that reads clearly on the plate while carrying real depth and complexity. The kitchen earned its first MICHELIN Star in March 2021 and its second just two years later, in April 2023. The room seats forty beneath a large mirrored wall that doubles the light off the lake, with a separate private dining room for ten.

On the ground floor, Parkview serves as the hotel's light-flooded, all-day restaurant set within the park landscape, its cooking built around multi-faceted, North German-inspired dishes under Head Chef Stefan Wilke. Since April 2025, Osteria Due has added an Italian register to the house, run by Francesco Delvecchio with chef Jochen Kempf cooking classic Italian dishes from Wednesday to Sunday, midday to 11pm. In the Atrium Lounge, pastry chef Marco D'Andrea sets out a seasonal afternoon tea beneath the 27-metre atrium, next to a library curated by Hamburg bookseller Felix Jud.

04The bar

The hotel's bar turns the Alster into wraparound scenery, a 320-degree view across water and skyline that makes it a stop in its own right for guests who want the panorama without committing to the tasting menu next door.

05Spa and wellbeing

High above the rooftops, the Fontenay Spa spreads across 1,000 m², crowning the building with an indoor-outdoor infinity pool positioned so its waterline appears to run straight into the Alster beyond. A 90°C Finnish sauna and a 45°C steam bath sit at the same height over the lake, and the gym is fitted with Technogym's Personal Line equipment, developed with architect and designer Antonio Citterio. The spa has been run since August 2020 by Marie Chantal Wüstefeld, previously spa manager on TUI Cruises' Mein Schiff fleet, and is open daily from 7am to 10pm. The 7.5-kilometre running path around the Outer Alster begins directly outside the door.

06The neighbourhood

Rotherbaum is Hamburg's university quarter, shaded and residential, yet the hotel itself is conveniently located within walking distance of the shops and museums of the city centre. The Kunsthalle and the university's music academy are a short walk away, and the lakeside path outside is part of the same Alster shoreline locals run, row and skate along through the seasons.

07Making the most of a stay

Day guests can buy into the spa on weekdays for a four-hour session, and families are offered connecting rooms and child-friendly menus rather than being quietly discouraged, in a hotel that otherwise reads as resolutely grown-up.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.